The Reason
by Chucky Ray
Summary: All she needed was a reason to carry on, and all he needed was a reason to stay in the village. In the end, they both found exactly what they were looking for. Sasusaku fluff! 3333 Takes place before Sasuke is about to leave the village for his redemption.


_A Note From The Author: Hey guys! I just wanted to quickly apologize for the delay in my Uchiha Warrior series. I've been really busy this summer and being out and about. Anyways, I wanted to first do this quick oneshot while I had time. It's somewhat based on a roleplay of mine. So anyways, I really hope that you enjoy it!_

Sakura couldn't stand it any longer. She couldn't let him go this time. At least not without asking him a very important question. That's when suddenly she felt her cheeks turn beet red. "Umm Sasuke,.." she began nervously.

"What?" he questioned her back.

"I was sort of just kind of wondering that before you left,.. well maybe,.. just maybe I could go with you this time." She told him.

"This is a journey of redemption for me alone. You have nothing to do with my sins." He told her when suddenly she hung her head.

"Nothing to do with them huh?" she inquired before all of a sudden she felt him poke her forehead and gasped.

"Don't worry, I promise that I will be back." He began while Sakura widened her eyes at him with pure and utter astonishment and bewilderment. He was _actually_ smiling at her. "See ya later." He told her and that's when suddenly Naruto felt like he couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright that does it!" he hollered. "You can cut the crap right now Sasuke! You're not going anywhere!" he growled angrily.

"Calm down Naruto." Kakashi told him.

"No! I won't! I'm sorry Kakashi-Sensei but if you think that I'm just going to stand here and let Sasuke leave when we finally got him back then you're very much mistaken!" he snapped. "Sakura went through hell all of those years that you were gone and there's no way that I'm letting you leave her now!" he yelled.

"Really Naruto it's alright, I'll be fine." Sakura told him while smiling sadly at him.

"That's a lie! I know a fake smile when I see one! You can try to hide it all you want but you and I both know that you still have feelings for him." He told her as Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Now it was his turn to be surprised.

"Sakura." He began. "Is that true?" he questioned her.

"I,.. uh,..I mean,.." she stammered. "I have to go!" she cried before she turned around and ran away. Sasuke turned his head and watched her go before turning back to look at Naruto.

"How is that even possible? There's no reason for somebody like her to love somebody like me after the way I treated her." He told him.

"Exactly! I agree with you one hundred percent!" Naruto exclaimed. "But yet for some reason beyond the realm of my understanding she still does." He told him. "It's a pity you're leaving her again after she's remained as loyal as she has to you." He said.

"It's not that I don't care about her." Sasuke began which after he spoke those very words he was amazed to find out that it was true. "It's just that everything I have done in the past I need to seek redemption for. Unless I can find it here in Konohagakure, then I don't have one good reason to stay." He told him.

"Hmm,.. no good reason eh? Even if it has to do with a certain girl with pink hair?" Naruto questioned him as Sasuke blushed and Naruto giggled mischievously before he pointed at him. "I knew it! You like Sakura don't you?" he questioned him but Sasuke just simply narrowed his eyebrows and glared at him.

"No." he lied while he felt his cheeks go even redder.

"Sasuke!" Naruto growled angrily while folding his arms at him.

"Alright! I like her alright!? Now will you just shut up about it and leave me alone!? So what if I like her?" he questioned him before he took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "She doesn't deserve somebody like me. I could never make her happy." He told him.

"That's funny, you really don't have a clue do you?" Naruto questioned him back.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke wondered.

"Come on, let's go for a walk. I have to tell you a story." Naruto told him as Sasuke groaned and rolled his eyes at him.

"Naruto I _really_ don't have time for this." He told him.

"You care about Sakura and her happiness don't you?" Naruto asked him.

"Yes." He replied.

"Well c'mon then, you need to know the truth." Naruto told him before the two friends turned around and started walking away together.

"What do you mean?" he inquired.

"Haven't you noticed the difference in her? How much stronger that she's suddenly become?" Naruto asked him.

"Yes. That's why,.. err,.. umm,.. that's why I'm starting to get attracted to her." He admitted feeling his cheeks starting to turn pink.

"Well don't you want to know the reason why?" Naruto asked him. "The reason why she earned her super strength and why she asked Lady Hokage to train her to become a medical ninja?"

"Umm.." Sasuke began. "I give up." He finished before Naruto stopped and grabbed ahold of his shoulders and turned him around to face him. "Newsflash! It was because of you! It was because of you and your insults when all three of us were back on Squad Seven together." He told him as Sasuke suddenly felt himself go speechless. "You always told her that she was dead weight and made her feel like she was never good enough for you or our team!" Naruto snapped as Sasuke suddenly dropped his head and grew a soulful look on his face.

"And after you left the village that only made things worse." Naruto told him as Sasuke replayed the night inside his mind and suddenly remembered everything. Even how he had felt. A few moments of silence passed between them before Sasuke finally spoke.

"I never meant to hurt her. I never wanted to hurt her. She's the last person in the world I ever wanted to hurt. That's the only reason why I left her and didn't bring her with me." He told him as tears rolled down his cheeks and hit the pavement beneath him. "I realized too late that I was falling in love with her. She was the only girl who ever had genuine feelings for me." He said.

"Alright, so why are you telling me all of this? Even if you do decide to leave the village. Don't you think that you should at least let her know how you feel before you go?" Naruto wondered.

"I can't. I'm afraid that would only just break her heart." Sasuke told him while he continued to weep silently.

"It's not like it's something that she hasn't experienced before. She lost you once remember? I think it would be worth it for her to know the man that she's been chasing for all of these years finally replicates her feelings." Naruto told him. "Besides that, there's something else you need to know. You might have broken her heart, but you never broke her spirit." He said while smiling warmly at him.

"Where is she?" Sasuke asked him.

"Well,.. I can't be a hundred percent certain but I can at least give you an idea where she might be." Naruto told him with a grin in which Sasuke returned. "Come on buddy, follow me." He told him before they both turned around and walked away.

 _…_ _._

Sakura stood inside the field while the wind blew threw her hair. She was completely unaware of the fact that Naruto and Sasuke were now currently standing on top of the hill. "Hn." Sasuke began with a chuckle. "I should have known that she would be here. There's cherry blossom trees everywhere." He finished before he felt Naruto place a hand on top of his shoulder.

"Go get her tiger." He whispered inside his ear as Sasuke rolled his eyes before he slowly started making his way towards Sakura.

"Sakura." He said rather loudly as Sakura gasped before she quickly turned her head over to look at him.

"Sasuke? What are you doing out here? How did you find me?" she wondered.

"Naruto told me where he thought you would be and I'm rather surprised that I didn't figure it out for myself actually." He told her stopping in front of her before she heaved a sad little sigh and slowly turned her head.

"Oh I see. Did you really want to talk to me? Or did you just come to say goodbye before you take off and leave me again?" she questioned him.

"Sakura." He began again before he grabbed ahold her chin and turned her head over to face him. "I came for a whole lot more than that. The most important reason of all is for me to give you a well-deserved and earned apology after everything that you had to go through." He told her before she suddenly broke into sobs and pushed him away from her.

"How could you do that to me Sasuke!? Did you really hate me _that_ much?" she questioned him while tears continued to silently roll down her cheeks but Sasuke just simply shook his head at her.

"No. Actually, it's the opposite of what you think." He told her as she quickly shook her head.

"I don't understand, what are you talking about?" she sobbed.

"The reason I left you behind is because I wanted to protect you. I don't care if you don't believe me, in fact I don't even care if you will ever forgive me, but you need to know the truth." He told her as he placed a tender hand onto her cheek and gazed into her eyes while gently rubbing away one of her tears with his thumb. He felt his heart pounding against his chest. This is the first time that he had ever felt like this about anyone.

"And what's that Sasuke?" Sakura wondered.

"You'll see." Sasuke began with a sly grin. "Let me show you. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out." He told her before he grabbed a few strands of her hair and tucked them around her ear before he closed his eyes and kissed her passionately. Sakura was a bit taken aback but she deepened the kiss and they exchanged a few more small kisses between them before slowly breaking apart. "Figure it out yet?" he questioned her.

"Yes,.. I think so." Sakura began smiling back at him. "I just really wish that our first kiss wasn't actually our goodbye kiss as well." She told him.

"Hn. What makes you think that it was a goodbye kiss?" he questioned her.

"Aren't you getting ready to leave again?" she asked him back.

"No. I don't think so. I changed my mind." He told her.

"Really? Why?" she wondered as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back with a grin.

"I have my reasons." He began before he opened them again and then turned his head back to look at her. "It looks like you and Naruto were able to prove me wrong after all." He told her.

"So,.. does that really mean that you're going to stay here with me?" she asked him eagerly.

"Hn." He replied before he placed his hand back onto her cheek and gently stroked it with his thumb. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't when everything that I could ever want is right here standing in front of me." He told her before he closed his eyes and kissed her again while the cherry blossoms from the trees blew around them in the distance.

 **So, that's it! What do you guys think? Should there be a sequel to this? Please let me know in the review section below!**


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